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In Formula 1 Qualifying at the Baku City Circuit, a surprise elimination complicates the championship fight.
The fight for pole position was wide open on Saturday at the Baku City Circuit, a track that punishes even the smallest of mistakes.
Three different drivers from three different teams topped the three Free Practice Sessions, Max Verstappen topping FP1, Charles Leclerc topping FP2, and most recently George Russell topping FP3.
But it was Leclerc who took pole position, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz close behind.
Q1:
The Williams pair of Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon were the early pacesetters in the midfield. The two took first and second respectively before the Red Bulls set both of their first flying laps, Sergio Perez setting a 1:43.436 to go a tenth and a half faster than Verstappen.
The McLarens and Mercedes duos seemed to struggle relative to their competitors, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc stole the second and third spots on the timing sheets.
With nine minutes to go, newly-signed Colapinto went third-fastest, just one tenth off of Perez’s P1 time and beating out Leclerc.
There was a brief yellow flag in Sector 2 as Sainz went into the run-off area and worked to get his car back on track. Then his teammate Leclerc went for another fast lap, which put him into the 1:42s range and put him in first by almost four tenths over Russell, who jumped up from the elimination zone.
After a lull in the action, drivers were back out on track with three minutes to go. Both Aston Martin drivers were sitting in the elimination zone, as well as Haas’ newest addition Oliver Bearman.
Yuki Tsunoda put himself fourth, within six tenths of Leclerc’s time. A brief yellow flag threatened Verstappen’s final flying lap, the championship leader sitting down in 13th, but it was cleared before he had to slow down and lose time. He was pushed down into the elimination zone before going third on his final lap.
Then the Williams pair went second and third on their final laps, before getting split by Nico Hulkenberg. Now it was the McLaren pair that were in trouble. Oscar Piastri’s final lap was enough to put him third, but Lando Norris was called into the pits after his final lap wasn’t fast enough, making him the big surprise elimination in the first part of qualifying.
Eliminated in Q1:
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Lando Norris
18. Valtteri Bottas
19. Esteban Ocon
20. Zhou Guanyu
Q2:
Despite seeming to struggle in Q1, Piastri was the early pacesetter of Q2, setting a time of 1:42.598 on his first flying lap and holding the top spot for several minutes before getting displaced by Verstappen and Perez.
Sainz and Leclerc remained on track as, over halfway through the session, everyone else was in the pits. Sitting in sixth and ninth respectively, the pair needed an improvement and wanted a chance to do so in clean air. They both managed to make up several places on their laps, Leclerc improving to split the Red Bulls in second, and Sainz slotting into fourth.
Again the Aston Martin pair were in the elimination zone as they headed out for their final laps, this time joined by Colapinto, Tsunoda, and Pierre Gasly. With two minutes to go, everyone was out on track (except for Perez).
Many drivers failed to find any significant improvement on their last go, Russell and Hamilton both making up a few places as Fernando Alonso got safely out of the elimination zone. Colapinto jumped all the way up to fifth place to make it into Q3 on just his second weekend in Formula 1. Meanwhile, Bearman was unable to get into the top ten but did manage to out-qualify his more experienced teammate.
Eliminated in Q2:
11. Oliver Bearman
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Pierre Gasly
14. Nico Hulkenberg
15. Lance Stroll
Q3:
Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Williams were the teams with two drivers in Q3, Alonso and Piastri joining those drivers in the fight for pole position.
Piastri beat out the Mercedes pair for provisional pole before Leclerc set a 1:41.610 to go first overall and Sainz took second place.
Verstappen lost time in the final sector of his first flying lap, putting him just sixth for his effort. As drivers went back into the pits before their final push laps, the Ferraris lead Piastri and Russell, with the Red Bulls taking fifth and sixth ahead of Hamilton and the Williams drivers (leaving Alonso down in tenth).
As Albon headed out for his final lap, the fan used to coolÂ? his airbox was left on his car. He pulled to the side of pit lane and managed to remove the fan on his own and continue. Despite his efforts he was unable to make it to the start/finish line before the time ran out and lost his chance to improve.
Again, only a few drivers managed to improve on their final laps. Piastri took second as Leclerc improved on his provisional pole time, a 1:41.365 this time around. Colapinto moved ahead of Albon as Perez jumped up to fourth. Verstappen only managed sixth place, Russell sitting between him and his teammate.
But no one could beat Leclerc, who took his fourth consecutive pole position in Baku. He’ll start on the front row alongside Piastri tomorrow, with Sainz and Perez behind them.
Top ten starting:
1. Charles Leclerc
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Sergio Perez
5. George Russell
6. Max Verstappen
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Franco Colapinto
10. Alex Albon
Feature Image Credit: Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images